RWBY-The Wandering Beacon
by Jdbl00d
Summary: Teams like RWBY, JNPR and CRDL are not the last of Beacon's aspiring Hunters and Huntresses, but neither were they the first. As a multitude of crimes conducted by the strange organization known as Chimera occur through the city of Vale, team RWBY finds themselves teaming up with two members of team WNDR, the strongest graduates from the halls of Beacon.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: **

**Finally another idea for a RWBY fic! It's been way too long and now volume 2 is about to premier! Hope everyone is as excited as I am. Too bad I'm halfway across the globe from RTX tho, so I suppose I'll have to wait for the upload.**

**Anyways, just finished playing BlazBlue: Chronophantasma. My thoughts on the game? Freaking awesome. Also, loving the new characters such as Kagura and Azrael. Then, it hit me, if RWBY is meant to be based on anime, what's would it be like to include some womaniser nonsense into the whole thing? Fear not, it is well controlled. No Bumblebee and White Rose trends though. (I'm afraid I don't know how to do that...)**

**Anyways, hope you enjoy this fic! Constructive comments appreciated!**

* * *

Prologue:

"Did you remember the encryption?"

"'Course I did. What the hell kind of crook goes and forgets the stuff he needs for a heist?"

"The dumb kind."

"You saying I'm dumb?"

"No."

The man sighed, the sound escaping as a hiss from under his mask. "Whatever. Now shut up, let me work in peace."

His partner, a woman with bronze hair simply ignored him and continued to keep watch on the for any snooping security guards. She leaned back against the wall, folding her hands under her breasts.

"Aaaaand, done." The man said as he pressed the final button on his modified scroll. A wireless transmission was immediately sent to the electronic lock and the green light flashed. The door opened to a massive storeroom of mechanical parts hidden within. "Tell me I'm awesome."

"You are awesome." The woman said with no particular emotion. "Let's get what we need and go. I assume you also have that covered?"

"Duh..." He said as he inspected the different boxes. Finally he found his prize. "Heh, there's my sweet little baby. Come here now..."

The woman could never understand his fascination with machines. As far as she knew, those were the only things he ever got interested in. She watched as he stabbed his spear into the container, the nanowire infused tip feeding their ways into the circuitry within. He connected his scroll to the base of the weapon, typing in strange codes and instructions. At least one thing he was good for; she admitted, was getting the job done in the most silent manner possible.

"Bingo..." He said as he unlocked the container. Opening it, he beheld his prize, the cybernetic lens on the right side of his mask rotating and shifting as he went and examined the device. "This'll be enough. We have what we need."

"Good." The woman replied. "Let's go then."

Hefting the device in his hands, the man struggled as he walked out with it. "Ugh, where the hell is he?"

"He's following the plan." She replied. "Don't worry, everything will be just as planned." They rounded a corner and stepped into the sight of two security guards.

"Most of the time..." The woman said before she was just a blur. The guards had no time to react before she whipped out a War hammer-a very bulky and large weapon she lifted extraordinarily well despite her slim form-and sent them both into unconsciousness.

"Come on. It won't be long before their colleagues sound the alarm." She said as she hoisted the hammer on her back.

"Easy for you to say." He huffed. "I'm not as athletic..."

As was predicted, an alarm suddenly blared through the whole facility. Red warning lights suddenly flashed and corridors were sealed off. From unseen doors, guards poured out, brandishing deadly weapons.

"Well, so much for that..." She groaned. Hefting the hammer, she twirled till the head of the weapon was pointed at one of the barriers. Pulling on the trigger located in the middle of the shaft, the weapon fired a single round with the force of a cannon, blowing apart the barrier immediately.

"Move." She said as the guards started firing.

"I'm moving!" The masked man grumbled, cradling the device in his arms ever so carefully. The last thing he wanted was for it to get broken. "I swear, I'm finishing that aperture the minute this is over! No more heists till then."

They ran down the corridor with guards hot on their heels. Soon enough, they approached a cross-junction where the pale moonlight shone down from the domed glass ceiling. They stopped as soon as guards all around moved in, surrounding them and cutting off any form of escape.

"Get down on the ground! You are surrounded!" Came the voice of the guard commander. The woman looked all around her. True to his word, she saw no openings.

"Well, I suppose this is where plan B comes in?" Her accomplice said.

"Plan B it is." She said in monotone. Reaching for her hammer, she pulled the trigger, the round blasting upwards to the domed ceiling, shattering it and sending glass shards raining down. As the glass fell, something else accompanied it, crashing right next to the pair.

The sudden turn of events stunned the guards. Before they could react, a hail of machine gun fire ripped through the very air, injuring many of them and forcing others to take cover.

The source of the bullets came from a large man that just descended from the ceiling. He wore two huge gauntlets that now spat out about twenty rounds a second. His large muscular frame shielded the pair from the falling glass, grinning while he blasted round after round at the security forces that merely quailed in his relentless assault.

"Oh c'mon. These scrubs aren't even worth every damn bullet I have!" He yelled over the whine of his weapons.

"Shut up." The woman said. "Just stick to the plan."

"And while you're at it, can you also help me with the heavy lifting?" The masked man said.

The muscular man took the device, still laying down as much covering fire as possible. The woman and masked man then grabbed his arms firmly. A few clicks of a button from the masked man's scroll and a small harness attached to the muscular man reacted, pulling them towards the shattered domed ceiling.

By the time the guards were able to react, they had disappeared into the night.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

Ruby browsed through the many magazines on sale. Since the semester break kicked in, she had found herself enjoying more and more free time around the city. Of course, this was after the usual revision sessions with Weiss.

She glanced as her partner looked over some binders. Recently, she had noticed the young Schnee heiress to be running out of file space recently. Either they were having way too many classes or perhaps Weiss was using more than what she had planned for. Taking the latest mishap into account, which was mostly her fault unfortunately, she knew it wasn't the latter.

It had been a normal day. Ruby had offered to help Weiss with her training. The Schnee wanted to practice a few new moves and was only confidant that a proper, actual battle would suffice. Bringing her notes to the sparring area, she had left them in the corner and proceeded to the match that Professor Port had taken his time to referee.

It was going well. Ruby hadn't challenged Weiss many times, but they had seen each other's styles well enough to predict the other's moves or even predict their own thoughts. Ruby charging in outright wasn't in Weiss's mind, which forced a strategy change from her into adopting a completely defensive style, using her glyphs to repel the red cloaked girl.

Ruby moved they way she knew, doing her best to flank her partner as much as possible. But Weiss had caught on, freezing sections of the floor to limit Ruby's movement. As Ruby charged down the only place Weiss hadn't frozen, Weiss set up a black glyph before sending Myrtenaster through the center. At the same time, the weapon rotated, covering the sword in flame. The fire then started to get absorbed onto the black colored circle. As it did, Weiss set up another blue glyph right behind.

Ruby's instincts took over, using her Aura to slip away the minute Weiss's glyph combination launched a powerful flame attack right at her, the circumference of the original black glyph augmenting the size of the flaming arc. Ruby just managed to evade it before the arc exploded against the wall.

"What did you do Weiss?" Ruby said, astounded.

"Well, it was just a theory I had." Weiss shrugged. "I figured, if it was possible to restrain or reflect things, why not use it as a supplement to my attacks? I didn't think it'd be that powerful though..."

"What are you talking about? It was awesome!" Ruby cheered.

"I guess." Weiss folded her arms. "It really drains me though. I can't keep setting glyphs one after another and dodge attacks at the same time."

"Well, I'm sure you can find a use for it someday." Professor Port commented. "True huntresses find their way around adversity after all. I assume you two are done?"

"Yeah. Thanks professor!" Ruby said.

"Thank you very much. I hope it wasn't much trouble." Weiss smiled as she went to grab her things. A second later, she screamed.

The flame attack Ruby had dodged had impacted the section of the class where Weiss had left her notes. The resulting blow had now reduced them to nothing but cinders and ash.

"Oooh..." Ruby grimaced as Weiss ran over to examine the damage. After a second of it, it was determined unsalvageable.

Which now brought them into the present activity of shopping.

_I hope she isn't mad at me..._ Ruby gulped as she strode over to her partner. Weiss was still looking through the binders. "Um, Weiss..." Ruby began.

"Hmm?" Weiss looked over to her partner. "Oh, Ruby, done already?"

"Not really..." She mumbled. Weiss groaned internally. _Oh please don't think I'm mad at you for that fiasco. It was my fault actually for leaving them lying where I could destroy them. No, she's definitely thinking that_.

"Before you begin Ruby, why don't we go buy some cookies for tea?" She said. At the mention of the delicious pastries, Ruby's eyes lit up.

"Really?" Ruby beamed. Weiss could swear she was drooling.

"Y-yeah. Really." Weiss nodded. "As soon as I'm done."

Ruby nodded and skipped off to look at more weapon catalogues. _That ought to keep her out of the dumps for a bit_. Weiss nodded. After selecting the proper binder and purchasing it, she led Ruby down to a nearby cafe that sold the best chocolate chip cookies anyone could ask for. As Ruby munched down happily on the cookies, Weiss started speaking.

"Ruby, I'm going to be clear on this, but it isn't your fault that more than half my week's notes are ashes." Weiss said.

Ruby looked up, still in the process of munching the recent cookie that popped into her mouth. "It's not?"

"No you dunce!" Weiss replied. "No one could have known it was going to happen! Besides, it's my fault for bringing them into that place and not thinking ahead of that! So, quit being so miserable okay?"

Ruby chewed-very slowly-on the cookie in her mouth before swallowing in a strained gulp. Weiss blinked at the exaggerated reaction from her partner.

"Weiss?" Ruby said, smiling. "Thanks. That really helped."

"As long as you understand." Weiss nodded. "Now, where are Yang and Blake? I told them we'd be at this cafe."

"Probably shopping still. I heard Yang's conditioner just ran out. The one she uses is a very exotic brand." Ruby said, balancing her head on her hands. "Might be a while before they get here."

"Well, good luck to Blake then. As far as I know, she is the only one with very little material needs." Weiss commented as she sipped her tea.

After a about twenty minutes, Ruby recognized the silhouette of her sister and Blake walking towards them. She smiled and waved in greeting. The smile however, dropped when she finally saw the large amount of bags her sister was carrying.

"What in the world?" Weiss gasped in shock. "I thought you were only going to get conditioner!"

"That was until she saw the swimsuit section on sale." Blake grumbled. "Can I sit down now? My feet are killing me."

"Wait wait, swimsuits?" Weiss blinked.

"She's totally convinced we are going to the beach during this whole break." Blake groaned as she sat in a chair. "I tried to stop her I swear..."

"Yang..." Ruby frowned suspiciously as she saw the swimsuit that was meant for her. "Why does this one have so many frills on it?"

"Well, they kind of reminded me of your cloak!" Yang grinned. "After all, you can't wear it on the beach, so I had to substitute some flowy action into your beach outfit!"

This merely served to deepen Ruby's suspicion. "Somehow, I doubt that was the real reason..."

"Yeah, well..." Yang grinned sheepishly. "The store had a deal going on. And that particular one was going real cheap it was almost free! So I thought, what a 'freally' good deal! Right?"

Weiss's hand flew to her forehead while Ruby's head collided with the table. Blake merely resorted to staying silent and stared at the sky. No one seemed to want to entertain Yang's latest pun.

"Seriously Yang?" Weiss groaned. "I can't believe we survived an entire semester with you..."

"Hey, I survived with her my whole life Weiss." Ruby said as she lifted her head from the table. "If you managed an entire semester, that's an achievement right there."

"Ruby has a point..." Blake interjected.

"Hey! My puns are smart puns okay? Not like the usual crap anyone can come up on the fly!" Yang grumbled, folding her hands across her chest.

"Really?" Blake wondered. "Seems that almost every pun I've heard from you this whole semester is the same thing as anything that comes up on the fly..."

"No, she has a point." Ruby groaned.

"See?" Yang beamed, placing a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "My baby sister knows best!"

"Yang, it's because you've said at least one every day back at home." Ruby moaned. "Truth be told, your quick wit is on a completely different level, and not in a good way..."

"Aww..." Yang moaned but she held a playful smile on her face. "And here I thought my widdle jokes actually hit the soft spot on you. But I suppose since you seemed to have outgrown them..."

"Yang..." Ruby cautioned but was far too slow to escape before Yang finally dug her fingers into her ribcage.

"Y-Yang! STOP! BAHAHAHAHAHA!" Ruby squealed as Yang tickled her. Weiss and Blake had wisely moved away from the table as the sisters scuffled with each other in their own playful way. They looked at one another, wondering how it was that they have survived the antics of the two for the entire semester. Since then, they had quite the eventful, albeit crazy lives that seemed a part of everyday now.

One had to wonder, how much more eventful can it get?


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

The Faunus skipped her way toward the imposing tower of Beacon academy, her thick cloak flowing as she did. She seemed nonchalantly cheerful despite the stares she earned from the students meandering around. She moved up to the statue in the centre of the main avenue that depicted the hunter and huntress on a rocky outcropping overlooking a beowolf.

"To be back after so long." She muttered to herself. "Some things really don't change do they?" She smiled to herself as her chipmunk tail swished about cutely in the air.

"Well well, what is a Faunus doing here?" She turned to see a rather burly boy in what she could describe as knight's armor smirking at her. Behind him were three other boys, which she assumed was his team.

"Just visiting." She chirped. "And you would be?"

"The name is Cardin Winchester." He said. "Remember it well. Say, can we touch your tail?"

"Uh..." The Chipmunk Faunus gulped. "Sorry, but my rear and anything pertaining to it is off limits to anyone but my future husband. Violate that, well, let's just say it won't be pretty..."

"Ooh... Looks like someone wants to pick a fight..." Russel Thrush said. "Hey Cardin, I think our new 'friend' needs to be taught some manners..."

"You know what?" Cardin smirked. "I think you're right." At once, team CRDL moved in, circling her.

_Oh God seriously? What is wrong with these guys?_ She groaned in her mind. _What are Beacon's students doing nowadays?_

"So missy, you ready?" Cardin smirked as he readied his fists.

She sighed, throwing off the cloak she was wearing and getting into a fighting stance. "Just remember, you wanted this..."

* * *

"So, back to the note taking now?" Ruby looked at Weiss, who nodded back.

"Definitely. I need to get all our revision material back and make up for the lost time."

"C'mon Weiss!" Ruby smiled. "It's the holidays! We should be relaxing and having fun!"

"Well, we still have to keep up with the next semester coming up!" Weiss retorted. "I mean, well, having fun is necessary and all, but we still need to recall all we have learned the past few months."

"Okay, okay..." Ruby replied. "I agree. So, need some help?"

Suddenly, a loud crash was heard. Team RWBY snapped their heads to the Beacon academy avenue.

"What was that?" Yang asked, carrying the massive bag filled with the spoils of her shopping spree.

"Dunno." Blake shrugged. "But I guess we ought to find out." Weiss and Ruby nodded at Blake's comment, dashing down the pathway. The commotion seemed to be originating from the centre of the avenue, where a large crowd had gathered. Glancing through the students, Ruby managed to catch a glimpse of Lie Ren from JNPR.

"Ren!" Ruby called out to him, catching his attention. "What's going on?"

"Well, Cardin and his buddies were up to no good again. They picked their next target to be some Faunus that walked in here." He explained before directing his attention back to the scene. "Truth be told though, no one expected the Faunus to be this good. It's actually getting quite entertaining..."

Team RWBY squeezed their way through the crowd to watch the scene. At once, they spotted the Faunus.

She had a pretty good figure by any standards. Her chestnut colored hair was cut short that it stretched to her neck. She wore a tank top that was cut to expose her midriff. She wore short shorts that left most of her legs bare save for a pair of armored shin guards. Her chestnut colored tail bounced as she battled Cardin and his crew.

Russel charged in, but his attack missed its target as the Faunus did a back flip, kicking his legs out from under him as she landed. Sky and Dove charged in simultaneously, launching a series of tandem attacks at her. She deftly avoided their blows, smiling all the while. They simultaneously readied a punch. That was when she dashed in between them, grabbing them by their collars. Sky and Dove merely gaped before they were thrown into each other.

"Woah..." Ruby gaped at the Faunus. What reason did she have to visit Beacon?

"No kidding..." Weiss too looked astounded. "I don't think I'd last a second..."

"They're, bigger than mine..." Yang carelessly said, causing her whole team to look at her.

Ruby blinked. "Um, what?"

Yang didn't respond. Instead, she looked at the Faunus, and then herself. Rather to be more specific, she was looking at the bosom.

"Did Yang just get jealous?" Weiss whispered to Ruby.

Ruby shrugged. "I have no freaking clue..." She turned to watch the fight again as Russel was thrown into Sky and Dove. Cardin grunted, charging in with his mace. The Faunus reached behind and pulled out two tonfas, which she used to guard Cardin's attack. Cardin struggled to break through, but she was strong, stronger than anyone Ruby had ever seen.

The Faunus grinned as she reared upwards, knocking Cardin off balance. She then spun, giving him a thrust to his abdomen. Cardin felt the breath get knocked out of him as he flew a few feet away and landed in some bushes.

"Stop!" Blake said, charging the Faunus down. She drew Gambol Shroud's twin blades, striking at the Faunus. "What do you think you are doing just attacking them like that? Even if they had offended you, you shouldn't just respond with more violence!"

"My, you have guts..." The Faunus winked. "Hmm, cat eh? I might be in trouble here..."

She broke free of the lock. Blake and the Chipmunk Faunus now circled, eyeing one another all the while. "Just so you know, those boys were trying to fondle my tail. Get this, _NO ONE_ fondles my tail! And then they tried to force the issue. I don't see why I shouldn't be teaching them a lesson..."

"A Faunus shouldn't respond to violence with more violence." Blake said. "All that ends up doing is bring back old grudges. Didn't you learn about that in the Faunus wars?"

"Hmm... Maybe?" She giggled.

"What's going on here?" Came the voice of Glynda Goodwitch. "What is all this commotion..." Upon seeing the chipmunk Faunus, Glynda's voice trailed off. "What the-?"

"Um, Ms. Goodwitch?" Ruby frowned. She never expected the bespectacled teacher to be at a loss for words and never did she expect her to be taken by complete surprise.

The chipmunk Faunus turned to her and beamed. "GLYNDY!"

Every single student in the vicinity looked between the both of them. "Glyndy?!" They all uttered.

Glynda merely blinked. "Nicole?"


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

"Quite a surprise seeing you again." Ozpin said as he sipped down more coffee, glancing out of the huge clock face that decorated the back of his office. "Though the next time you choose to visit, please don't beat up my students. At the very least, let me know if they start causing trouble."

"Hehe..." The Faunus smiled sheepishly. "Sorry..."

"Well, whatever." Ozpin waved his hand, dismissing the matter. "It seems you are doing well Nicole."

"Well as can be Ozpin!" She said, giving a thumbs-up.

"Sir..." Ruby started. "I understand that you know her, but could you introduce us before we all get really confused?"

"My apologies..." He said, standing up. "This here is Nicole Tamias. She was once a student of Beacon just like you and a member of team WNDR."

"Team Wander?" Weiss frowned. "I've heard of them. They are rumored to be the only team in Beacon to comprise solely of Faunus. And supposedly, they were the most powerful graduates of their time."

"You have done reading up Ms. Schnee." Ozpin nodded. "Yes, Nicole and her teammates were amongst the strongest graduates of this academy. And along with them is our dear Professor Goodwitch."

"Glyndy and us went through loads together!" Nicole smiled. "Seems like she is still as stiff as she was back then!"

"Stop it Nicole!" Glynda snapped, obviously getting irritated by the Faunus's imposed nickname. Ruby and Yang had to fight themselves to suppress their chuckles. Glynda snapped her head to them, glaring through those oval glasses.

"Aww, come on Glyndy! You can't be that uptight all the time!" The Faunus said as she gave her a hug. "We have to relive our academy days now that I'm here!"

"I will do no such thing!" Glynda snapped, pushing the Faunus away. "I have classes to prepare for and assignments to finish up. If you'll excuse me..." With a flourish of her cape, she left the office.

"Nuts..." The Faunus grumbled. "Well, don't matter. I do have my own things to handle too." Turning to Ozpin, she pulled out a small piece of paper from her coat pocket. "Wesley sent me."

"Wesley Snides?" Ozpin frowned. "Whatever reason?"

"Since graduation, you know he's been working not just as a hunter but a travelling law enforcement agent right?" Nicole said. "Well, recently, we've got our hands full with a bunch no good thieves and the usual security and police force can't take the cut. So we got called in."

"Thieves?" Yang arched an eyebrow. "Aren't we exaggerating a bit too much on them to call in professional hunters?"

"Well, thieves is an understatement." Nicole elaborated. "We are dealing with Chimera, a notorious trio of criminals who steal classified technology for their own needs. Already, they've conducted more raids on weapon development factories and technological research facilities. What they do with them? They create ingenious weapons and sell them to the highest bidder. The bidder's isn't the problem though. The issue is the huge lose of sensitive equipment and the fact these guys are making weapons illegally."

"True." Weiss nodded. "Every country has its own stake in development. If things like that ended up in terrorist hands, who knows what sort of chaos could happen?"

"Not to mention the White Fang may suddenly instigate all our war..." Blake frowned. "And Torchwick may get brighter ideas. But how does this concern us?"

Nicole smiled. "Simple. Wesley and I know of Beacon's standards and believe we can find back-up here! Of course, we won't ask you to directly involve yourselves, you are still students after all. But if anything, just give a helping hand here and there would be greatly appreciated!"

"Hmm..." Ozpin eyed the letter with great scrutiny as he spoke. "So you wish for Beacon's assistance in law enforcement?"

"We'd get the police, but Chimera is a tough outfit." Nicole replied. "They've beaten people ranging from regular old security guards to highly sophisticated combat droids. They're a nasty bunch."

Ozpin looked for a while, contemplating the situation. Ruby looked in between the two of them, thinking about everything Nicole had said. Before long, she made her decision.

"If they are stealing technology and using it for evil ends, I won't let it slide." She said, causing Nicole and Ozpin's gazes to turn to her. "People will be in trouble if we don't stop them right? So if there is anything I can do to help..."

Nicole brightened. "That's the spirit! I like your spunk kid!"

"Thanks... but..." Ruby glanced back at her team. Surprisingly, they all smiled and nodded.

"Sure thing." Weiss said. "If these crooks get such technology to the White Fang, they could inadvertently start a war. I'm with you on stopping them."

Blake agreed. "Not to mention they may have connections with that crook Torchwick. I'm in too."

"Count me in!" Yang winked. "I'm not leaving the fun to you all!"

"I suppose I can't stop you right now." Ozpin smiled. "However, exercise the utmost caution. You are not dealing with creatures of Grimm, but organized criminals."

"You got it sir!" Ruby nodded before turning to Nicole. "So, when do we start?"

The Faunus grinned. "Now."


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

"So where are we going?" Blake asked. The previous fatigue she had from Yang's crazy shopping had disappeared, replaced with a renewed vigor.

"To our current residence, sponsored by the local police." Nicole explained. "Wesley is there currently."

"Wesley." Ruby said. "He's your partner?"

"Yup, and our fearless team leader." Nicole nodded. "I've never seen a stronger warrior than him. I still remember how he split apart a Death Stalker's hide during initiation."

All of team RWBY stared at each other with wonder. Nicole had already proven how powerful she was. For her to give praise to someone else, one had to wonder what kind of person Wesley himself was.

Nicole led them to a small police cruiser just outside the airport. A very handsome looking man stood by the door of the car, waiting patiently. As soon as he spotted Nicole, he opened the rear door.

"Ms. Tamias, I assume we are ready to depart?" He asked.

"Ready when you are." She replied as she turned to the girls. "Girls, meet Keith Halden. He is an officer in the local police and he serves as our secretary and helps us to keep our mess in line. Ehehe, we aren't good at organizing our stuff."

"Pleasure to meet you." Weiss said, shaking his hand. The rest of the team nodded their greetings.

"The pleasure is mine." Keith replied. "And no need to worry, I already know of you. Mr. Wesley told me enough about the current students of Beacon."

"This Wesley guy knows quite a lot doesn't he?" Yang said as she climbed into the car.

"He likes to keep himself informed." Nicole explained as she got in. "He always believes information is the best way to start things off. He's never been wrong since."

"Sounds like a very capable man." Ruby nodded. "I can't wait to meet him."

Nicole shot her a look as Ruby said that. She watched as Keith climbed into the driver's seat, giving her a strange look. Blake caught the whole silent exchange, wondering why Nicole had withheld answering that question.

They drove for about twenty minutes, arriving in the higher class section of the city. As they drove by, they eyed elaborate houses with lawns stretching almost as wide as the main avenue of the academy.

"Wonder if Weiss's house looks like this..." Yang said as she admired the scenery.

"Wesley must be on really good terms with the local authorities to get all this." Ruby commented. "I wonder if he would also be willing to become a human-Faunus ambassador."

"He's thought of doing it, but I have disagreed plenty of times." Nicole said huffily. "He is not suited to that life."

"Why not?" Blake wondered. "If he has a good standing with the authorities, he should be a great spokesperson for Faunus everywhere! He could even change things for the better with the White Fang! And yet, you don't want him to?"

"Well, see..." Nicole groaned. "He has one problem..."

"What is it?" Blake asked as Keith drove the car into one of the estates. It seemed they had reached their destination.

Nicole bit her lip. "Um..."

"Nicole?" Ruby frowned as Keith parked the car. "What's wrong? You're acting really weird all of a sudden."

Nicole didn't answer Ruby as they got out of the car. The four girls were stunned at the large estate that currently served as Wesley and Nicole's residence. They opened the door into the main hall that was currently flanked by two staircases.

"Hey Weiss, is your house this awesome?" Yang asked the Schnee heiress.

"Why are you so interested in my house?" Weiss frowned. "I don't think it's that entertaining a topic for discussion."

"Well, we've never been to your residence." Yang said. "I'll bet a great Schnee like you has quite the roof over her head eh?"

"Guys! Quiet!" Ruby said as Nicole led them up a flight of stairs. At the top, she led the small group left of the corridor, where at the farthest end was a small door.

Suddenly the door burst open and a woman rushed out. "You piece of trash! Just die already! But, y-you're so cool! Uwaaaaaaaaah!" Burying her face in her hands, she rushed past the six of them, running to the door.

"What the hell?" Yang blinked, completely shocked. "What was that all about?"

Keith and Nicole finally sighed. Ruby frowned as she studied their reactions. "Nicole, what's going on?"

Nicole didn't answer. She merely led them to the door, upon which Keith knocked.

"Sir? We have returned." He said. However, no one answered.

"Sir?" Keith asked again.

"Come in..." Came a deep yet audible voice from beyond the door.

Keith looked at Nicole, who nodded. At once he turned the door handle and led them inside.

The minute Ruby breathed, she cringed. "Woah... This place smells like alcohol."

"Ruby..." Weiss frowned, a look of uneasiness setting in. "I think there is a good reason for that. I'm just not sure if we are better off not knowing."

Keith sighed while Nicole rubbed her temples. "Not again..." She moaned.

The entire room was a shambles. The ornate carpet now had empty liquor bottles strewn about. More bottles lined the cupboards and the curtains were starting to fall off the wall. At the sole desk that stood in the room (also flooded with liquor bottles) a man sat, his hands hanging limply from the sides of the chair and his head leaned against its back. A look of complete exhaustion was crossed over his face as his wolf ears drooped.

"This ain't good..." He moaned. "I went and got too carried away. Ugh, my head..."

"Is that...?" Ruby stared with disbelief.

"Wesley Snide?" Blake frowned, a twinge of surprise and uneasiness crossing her eyes.

Keith shook his head with displeasure. "I simply cannot understand how something like this could have happened..."

Wesley finally managed to wrap around his clouded mind that he was no longer alone. Opening his eyes a crack, he stared straight at Weiss. "Hey um, please, get that water for me." His left hand raised itself and pointed to a trio of identical bottles sitting by the window.

Weiss stared at the three bottles. "Um, okay. Which one is water?"

Nicole went to the window, grabbed a bottle and shoved it into the wolf Faunus's hand. "Here." She said curtly.

"Much appreciated..." Wesley said, gulping down the entire thing in three swigs. Somehow, the single bottle had helped to clear his head of the hangover he had acquired after drinking through the enormous amount of liquor the night before.

"As usual..." Nicole sighed.

"Alright." He breathed, placing the bottle down. "That's better." Suddenly he looked up and noticed who was standing in the room. "Nicole! Been awhile hasn't it? What was it a day or two?"

"Don't been awhile me!" Nicole snarled, eyes widening. "What in the name of hell just happened here?!" She said, gesturing to the mess that was now his office.

"Agh!" He groaned. "Don't yell! Geez, my head hurts still!"

"Whatever happened to the part of getting our stuff settled in whilst I spent the day at the police branch gathering information?" Nicole screeched. "Whatever happened to the part of getting the stuff we needed from the police department? What happened to keeping in touch? What happened the minute I left the damn building?!"

"I got our stuff unpacked, everything's settled." Wesley answered with a sly smile. "As for the police stuff, well, I told the chief what we needed and he said he'd get it ready by tomorrow. Since there was nothing to do I went and took a walk around town. Met some fine people and we got along well, so I guessed I could bring them here and have a party!" At the last sentence he gave a wink.

"You went and had a party?" Nicole's voice now lowered, but she still held utter disbelief in her eyes.

Ruby looked around the room at the expensive liqour bottles that remained. Wesley was rich, check. He was very influential, check. His connections with the police attested to that. Was that person, the supposed strongest graduate of Beacon, really the wasted man they now saw at the desk?

"Unbelievable..." Weiss said, still overcome with shock.

"I think now I know why he cannot be involved in politics." Ruby whispered to her. Blake couldn't say anything. She still couldn't believe the ridiculous sight before her.

Yang now noticed something from the bottom of Wesley's desk. With her thumb and index finger, she gingerly reached down and held it up. "Wait, is this a woman's...?"

"DROP IT!" Nicole yelled and Yang dropped it as ordered. "You'll get Wesley-nitis!"

Wesley looked up at her. "I don't recall there was ever a disease named after me. What smoked your brain?" Nicole turned back to him, glaring.

"What smoked my brain? What smoked yours?!" She screamed. "OH MY GOD, you CANNOT have a party in a tenant's house, much less your OWN OFFICE! What in the world is wrong with you? Are you an idiot? Wait a minute, I know you are an idiot, but you are like the biggest idiot in all Remnant!"

Wesley grimaced again. "Agh, I said don't yell lady!" Then, he glanced upwards. "But, I wouldn't mind if it was about those amazing breasts. Can't I just have a peek or two?"

At this, team RWBY took one step backward, eyeing him suspiciously.

Nicole glowered at him. "No chance in hell! Not after all your antics!"

"C'mon!" Wesley smiled. "I was drinking and dancing all night! Man, that was so much fun..."

"You still haven't answered one issue." Nicole said. "What happened to keeping in touch?"

Wesley chuckled. "Completely forgot. My bad..."

Now, Nicole blew her top. "YOU'RE DEAD!" Instantly, she threw a punch his way.

Wesley dodged instantly, her fist smashing through the only bottle that still was full, cracking it apart and spilling the alcoholic contents all over the floor.

"MY VODKA!" Wesley cried in despair.

* * *

The room was finally cleaned up of all forms of alcohol bottles, unkempt furniture and women's clothing. Wesley now stood up, getting ready to introduce himself. Ruby stared as he straightened. He was really tall. Although he wore a shirt that was covered over by a black trench coat, it was still impossible to miss out the muscles rippling under them.

"The name is Wesley Snides." He introduced himself. "I believe Ozpin's told you about me?"

"Yeah. He did." Ruby nodded. "I'm Ruby Rose, the leader of team RWBY. Here are Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long, my teammates."

"Teammates and sister." Yang smiled. "That'd be me."

"It's a pleasure." Wesley smiled.

"Pleasure is ours Mr. Snide." Blake nodded.

"No need to stay to the formalities." Wesley winked at Blake. "You can go ahead and just call me Wesley baby."

Blake stared, a little suspicious. "O-okay... Wesley."

Nicole rolled her eyes. "He just called you baby. Isn't that a little unnerving?"

"What?" Wesley looked at her cheekily. "Want me to call you baby too? Or maybe you'd like cutie pie more? What about angel?"

"God, shut up..." Nicole snapped. "It's bad enough I can't leave you alone, but I swear, you better stop flirting..."

"Aww, don't be so harsh! I remember our first date together." Wesley winked as he seemed to recall a distant memory. "We were walking under the moonlight, catching the cool night air. Then we went into a fine private hotel room with the money I managed to save and then..." He didn't manage to finish before Nicole dove in and gave him an uppercut to the face.

"Guoh!" He cried out as he toppled over.

"That never happened!" She screamed at him.

"Uh, Nicole..." Weiss said as she recovered from the shock of Nicole's latest attack. "What did he say you guys did?"

"Listen to me you all! Just ignore him!" She squealed, almost pleading for them to remain sane.

"Ow ow..." Wesley groaned a she recovered. "Man, why are you ladies so hard to get? Eh Keith?"

"Sir, as much as I do not want to interrupt you, we have pressing issues." Keith said in a stern tone. "We still need to discuss the issue of Chimera with team RWBY."

"Right right." He nodded, wolf ears perking up at the news. "Okay, let's get down to business." He walked over to his desk and took out a small brown colored folder. "I've done a little digging on Chimera the past few weeks. Although we currently have next to no information on their whereabouts, we know everything about who they are."

At this, he emptied the folder's contents onto the table. The four of the now looked as a bunch of notes and photographs fell out depicting three people.

"So these guys are Chimera?" Blake said, fingering one of the photos.

"Correct." Wesley replied, gesturing to the photo Blake held. "Handsome over there is known only as Arcturus. The masked freak is the brains of their outfit, able to nano-mechanically bypass even the most intricate security there is. He also serves as their weapons designer and developer."

"Charming..." Weiss said as she studied the picture. Not much could be told of the man because of the mask. It was a plain and emotionless visage with a sparkling red eye that covered his humanoid right.

"What about him?" Yang said, pointing to another photo. This one was of a man whose face was covered in scars. He wore a sinister grin, which caused even her to be unnerved.

"Rugal." Wesley answered. "One of the most brutal mercenaries ever lived. I heard he could take on a tank all on his own, and even split it apart. He is the muscle of the group, working as their living battering ram. I could probably take him and Arcturus together, but not where too many people would get involved."

"And this one?" Ruby said as she picked up the last photo. It was only the person's back shown, but anyone could tell it was a woman. She had a long ponytail that stretched to her waist and she wore a thigh length chinese dress. Upon her back was slung a huge War hammer.

"She's the leader of Chimera and calls herself Sting. She's the real mastermind of all their operations." Wesley explained. "Unfortunately, she's very secretive, so we don't know much about her except her name and fighting style from eyewitness reports. From what I've gathered, she is one mean woman."

"Heh, bring it!" Yang cracked her knuckles as she smiled. "I'll take her on. Let's see how her face holds up to my fists!"

"I like your attitude Yang," Wesley nodded. "But remember, she is an international criminal. As far as it goes, I wouldn't have you guys fighting any of them at all. That is a last resort. And no offence to you, but none of you have the current strength to best Rugal. It isn't pretty what he does to his victims. Also, I respect Ozpin and there is no way I'm putting you all in the line of fire willingly."

"So what do you want us to do?" Blake frowned. "If we aren't supposed to confront them directly, then are we supposed to spy for you?"

"Hit the nail on the head baby." Wesley smiled. "Yes, I want you guys to help as our eyes and ears on the streets. I want to know anything that comes up involving Chimera."

"If you want a detailed description..." Nicole added. "We just want you to focus on anything like suspicious marketing ads, new and completely out of the world weapon designs and showcases. Chimera may work in the shadows, but even they need to show off the stuff they make. Also, keep an eye out for unscrupulous deals. The minute you see anything like that, inform us right away."

"Just to help narrow down your search..." Wesley said. "Recently, they just stole a highly improved mech power core. Right now, I'm not sure of the details myself, but they may just be improving some sort of mech design to sell off."

"If something like that ends up in the White Fang's hands, the result will be catastrophic." Blake frowned. "Who knows what they would do with it?"

"Wesley, what else have they stolen so far?" Weiss asked. "If we can see their recent heists, maybe we can put things together and think of other solutions. It may give us other ideas to look for."

Ruby nodded in agreement. "Weiss is right. It isn't easy to build weapons with little stuff. If we know what they've been hoarding, we may just get a better idea of their plans."

"Good thinking." He nodded. "Well, they've only made three major robberies in the past two months besides the one I told you of. The first was just some small time workshop, most likely to store up on their toolbox, but the second was a raid on a airship production facility. Stole quite a few Bullhead engines and made off with some scrapped wing parts. The third was on a droid production facility. I have no clue what they took there, but I figure it was some robotic parts, or maybe robots themselves."

"Airship engines, robotics and a mech power core." Ruby thought. "Seems like some sort of robot to me."

"That is in the best estimation." Keith nodded. "However, they are ones to pull surprises, so don't expect things to go the way we predict."

"Alright." Ruby nodded. "So just to recap, we'll look out for anything suspicious resembling a weapons deal. Weiss definitely has connections. Maybe she can provide more insight into what they stole from the robot facility and also keep an eye out for any unscrupulous deals."

At this, Weiss nodded. "My father has plenty of androids delivered to him. It shouldn't be too hard for me to find out what happened there."

"I can help keep an eye out for them if they are anywhere in the city." Blake nodded. "Yang and Ruby can go through magazines and newspapers to watch out for anything out of the ordinary."

"I like the way you guys work." Wesley nodded. "Keep in touch with us if anything goes amiss or if you spot them. But remember, don't engage them. Just keep a low profile and watch out."

"Got it." Ruby nodded. "Well, time for us to go. We've got stuff to sort out back at Beacon."

Weiss agreed. "Right. I have things to do."

"Woah woah, wait a minute, you are leaving already?" Wesley asked the four girls. "C'mon, we should get to know each other more! Just hang around a little, I don't get a lot of company here..."

"Um..." Ruby frowned as she looked at her teammates. Unfortunately, none of them were sure how to respond.

"After all, you beautiful ladies are the first Beacon students I've met in years." He smiled, moving in closer. "We ought to have a nice long conversation together, break the ice so we can work better as one. There's a wonderful bottle I've been meaning to open." He then closed in on Blake. "Besides, I've never met a cat Faunus before. So whadya say baby? Care to stay a while?"

Blake merely stared. "Ummm..."

"HRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAGGHHH!" Nicole uttered as she charged in, her fist smashing into Wesley's face.

"GAGH!" Wesley cried out as Nicole's fist landed right into his nose, sending him flying halfway across the room and crashing into the wall.

"Whoa!" Blake stared in surprise at her latest assault.

"That there girls is what you do to men like that when they get close to you." Nicole huffed, folding her arms. "Remember it, okay?"

"Um... Okay..." Weiss nodded. Blake and Ruby merely stared whilst Yang shifted her eyes between Nicole and Wesley.

Wesley groaned as he recovered. "Ow, ugh. Man Nicole, your body, it's perfect! The raw, bulky muscle power combined with the stunning slim shape and figure, not to mention that large bosom. It's absolutely world class!"

"Shut. The. Hell. Up." Nicole said. " Keith, please show them out. I've got things to take care of here. Catch you girls later!"

"Right this way." Keith said, bowing as he opened the door.

"Bye Wesley. I'm still underage to drink though." Ruby said.

"It was nice meeting you, I suppose..." Weiss frowned as she waved goodbye.

"Bye." Blake said curtly.

"See ya around..." Yang said.

As soon as the door closed, Weiss sighed. "I can't believe it. He is supposed to be among the strongest graduates of Beacon?"

"Seems hard to believe." Ruby frowned.

"Believe it." Weiss said. "I can't count the number of words that can be used to describe him."

"Was he trying to hit on me just now?" Blake asked Yang.

"Blake, I think you're better off not knowing." The blonde replied.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Sting walked through the small corridor of Chimera's secret base. As promised, Arcturus was given time to finish his new aperture, hence the lack of planning. But that time was given to him about six days ago. She wondered when he was ever going to be finished so she could start her plans again.

She opened the door to the workshop, where thousands of stolen things ranging from sophisticated computers to machinery and vehicle parts lay strewn about. Sting frowned as she regarded the mess. How in the world Arcturus ever did work in such an environment continues to baffle her till this day. But she figured if he could work, there was no need to say anything.

His bench was empty and the aperture lay by the side. She frowned. Arcturus never left work alone when he was obsessed with it. Looking around, she saw the one person she needed to find.

"Where'd the geek go?" She said to Rugal who was eating a burger. Judging by the wrappers littering the floor, he must have already eaten twenty.

"Arcuturs?" Rugal looked up. "Said he needed to find some kind of spanner or something. Anyhow, something he had broke and he needs to replace it."

"Wasting my time as usual..." Sting growled. "I swear if he wasn't as good as he is I'd probably have ditched him in the ocean by now."

"Alive?" Rugal asked with a interested glint.

Sting didn't bother to answer. She merely went to inspect their latest hauls. The power core seemed to be in good condition. According to Arcturus, it has enough power output to fuel an entire train for weeks before depleting. She supposed that could be useful for anyone. But in Chimera's hands, useful was an understatement. The many original designs they had marketed over the years attested to that.

"He'd better get back quick." Sting frowned. "I don't like keeping too many ideas for too long..."

* * *

_Anything?_ Ruby typed on her scroll.

_Nothing yet._ Came Weiss's response. _Still waiting for the company's response._

_Nope._ Answered Blake. _You?_

"Nothing weird so far..." Ruby said as she typed the same message before sending it out. Since meeting with Wesley, team RWBY had taken playing detective work seriously. Still, trying to find out anything of Chimera's plans was like finding a needle in a haystack. She and Yang had already gone through about fifty weapon magazines and news articles altogether. Nothing came up besides usual updates and news, which Ruby deduced wasn't all that strange.

"Man, this is starting to get boring..." Yang grumbled as she placed another magazine back onto the tray. "At least Weiss has some corporate big whiff to talk to."

"Look, we all have our part to play." Ruby said. "Besides, I was under the impression that you knew it'd be a difficult job."

Yang just shrugged, reaching for another magazine when she decided it was enough and left to take a stroll out on the street. Reading through boring magazines and newspapers didn't cut it for the blonde. Besides, it made her back and neck stiff. With a jerk of her head, she felt the crackle of the stiff muscles in her neck. That's when she saw him.

Arcturus couldn't have been more out of place. Although he was wearing a cloak and hood to hide himself, it was impossible to miss out the small cybernetic lens plastered onto his mask. Yang immediately turned away, hoping he hadn't spotted her. Quietly, she went inside the store, tugging on Ruby's cloak.

"What is it Yang?" Ruby asked. "I'm busy."

"No time for that!" Yang whispered. "I just saw Arcturus!"

Ruby's eyes went wide. "What? Where?"

"Going down the street! We have to hurry!" She said, dragging Ruby to her feet. Spotting the cloaked criminal wasn't hard, allowing Yang and Ruby to follow him with a good safety distance. Ruby furiously typed on her scroll, informing Blake, Weiss and Nicole of their latest discovery.

Arcturus stopped for a moment, turning around. Yang and Ruby merely looked downward to her scroll, trying their best to look normal. Out of the corner of her eye, Arcturus merely shrugged and carried on.

"Whew..." She breathed. "So far so good."

"Nicole says to just follow him for now." Ruby said. "See where he is going. He might just lead us to their hideout."

Slowly, the sisters followed Arcturus, who apparently hadn't noticed that he was being followed. Either it was good luck or the fact he was just clueless. Ruby and Yang watched as he finally veered off the main streets, going down a small alleyway. Ruby and Yang followed, only to find that he had vanished into thin air.

"Wha-?" Yang blinked. "Where'd he go?"

"Beats me..." Ruby shrugged. Reaching for her scroll, she typed in a message to the rest. _Lost him. What now?_

Instantly, Nicole replied. _Do not follow. Return another day and search._

Yang groaned at the loss of their target. But still, they now had an idea of where Chimera was most likely based. "Let's hope Weiss has better luck. We'll get Blake to help us tomorrow too."

Ruby nodded. "Good idea."

* * *

**The next day:**

Weiss waited patiently at the lobby of Dragoon industries. Through the digging of the Schnee company's books, she had recently discovered a lapse in android delivery that left her father at a loss in how to improve the security on his shipments. Based on the records, that was about three months ago, and according to Wesley, Chimera had made that heist just about the same time.

Coincidence? Weiss supposed she was about to find out.

"Welcome Ms. Schnee." Said a man as he approached her, extending his hand in greeting. "My name is James Hamilton, CEO of Dragoon industries. It is truly an honor to meet you in person."

"The pleasure is mine Mr. Hamilton." Weiss nodded, shaking his hand in return. "I apologize for this last minute meeting, but I'm in quite a rush as of late. School and family business and all."

"I understand completely." He said as he sat down. "Now, how may I be of service?"

"Well, let me get to the point." Weiss said. "Recently, the Vale police has enlisted my assistance in tracking down Chimera, a notorious bunch of criminals. According to police records, your company suffered an attack by these unscrupulous individuals about three months ago. We believe they are currently planning something, but to be sure of it, I need you to give me a catalog of the items they made off with."

James nodded. "That can be arranged. But what sort of plan do you think they are concocting?"

"I do not know. But it certainly isn't good."

* * *

Ruby, Yang and Blake searched the alleyway where Arcturus was last seen. However, a whole hour's search had turned up nothing. Yang groaned as she lightly kicked a trash can. "This is starting to get real boring."

Ruby ignored her as she felt around on the walls. The only logical explanation was that Arcturus had gone through a secret door somewhere. If anything, it had to be hidden in a wall. Still, there was a lot of wall to cover.

"Any luck Blake?" Ruby asked the Faunus, who was away tapping at the walls behind her.

"Nope." Blake shook her head, still focused on tapping.

Yang now slumped against a wall. "Man, I swear I am so gonna break that Arcturus guy's face the minute I see him. The minute I find out where that scraggly thug is hiding..." Yang's hand now pressed against the wall, accidentally scraping a switch built into the surface.

With a 'click', a section of the floor sank downwards, splitting apart to reveal a ladder. Ruby and Blake turned to see Yang's latest find.

"Nice job Yang." Blake said. "I think we just found Chimera's secret hideout."

"Heh..." Yang chuckled. "Knew I had it in me."

Ruby reached down and placed her foot on a ladder. "Come on. Let's see where this leads. Yang, let Nicole and Wesley know where we are."

* * *

Weiss studied the report closely. "Are you sure this is what went missing?" She said to James.

"Positive." He nodded. "We took account of all damages since that raid."

"Alright." Weiss replied. "Thank you very much Mr. Hamilton. Unfortunately, I need to run."

"You are very much welcome Ms. Schnee." James bowed. "We look forward to continued partnership with you."

Weiss immediately took out her scroll, typing on the device. Whatever Chimera appeared to be planning, it didn't look like a robot was part of it all.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

The trio stalked the smooth stone corridor. The whole place was in poor condition, but there was evidence of people being present. The lighting and fixtures were completely brand new. Although there were puddles of water around, there were traces of maintenance work done on the pipe.

"Stay alert..." Ruby whispered. Blake nodded, unsheathing Gambol Shroud. Yang unfurled her gauntlets, ready to strike when the moment called for it.

At the end of the corridor was a small stairway. Ruby motioned for them to move in seeing as the coast was clear. Slowly, they descended the stairs, all the while staying alert for anything. Still, a deathly silence filled the air. Ruby now wasn't sure if any opposition was going to be present. Nevertheless, if there was anything she learned during her first semester, it was that life was unexpected.

"Seems like they go down quite a way." Blake noted as she caught sight of a sign. "We only appear to be on the second highest floor."

"Let's sweep through the rooms." Yang said. "We need to make sure everything's clear before moving on."

"Right." Ruby nodded, opening the door before her. She now saw that she was on a huge metal walkway suspended at least sixty feet above the ground. Below, she noticed the movement of shadows. She turned to Blake and Yang, holding a finger to her lips. Slowly, she placed one foot on the walkway, confirming it was stable. The three girls walked over to the middle to get a better look at the commotion below.

"Rugal you big muscle-head, where'd you put the spanner?" Arcturus yelled from over his workbench, his voice coming out with the pneumatic hiss behind his mask.

"Look here professor, I don't even touch your stuff! How the hell am I supposed to know?" Rugal snarled, throwing a beer bottle away. "Maybe you should think about cleaning up your mess once in a while! That's probably how your equipment goes missing!"

Ruby glanced over at the argument of the two men. In the middle of the whole room-which could have afforded to be a whole junkyard- sat a very strange looking device that covered the room's width. She recognized the Bullhead engines, strapped together in a triangle shape. They were then connected by huge iron supports and cobles to a central piece of equipment, which Ruby assumed was the recently stolen power core. The core itself was also connected to another device which Ruby could only make out as a gigantic chainsaw. Was it the plan for some sort of mech?

Her thoughts were cut short as the two resumed their argument.

"Last time, I lost a whole buzz saw thanks to you!" Arcturus pointed an accusing finger at Rugal.

"Well excuse me!" Rugal glared back. "It's not my fault I break almost anything I touch! I can't be blamed if my Aura is on permanent 'on'!" At this, Rugal clenched his left hand, the action ripping apart the girder it rested on, the metal screeching as it was bent and twisted.

Yang stared at Ruby. A single though crossed their mind. _Whoa..._

"Whatever." Arcturus growled. "At least try to build me another."

"Tch." Rugal now got up, taking a small metal bar. "What makes you think I'm your convenient manufacturer?" At this, he threw the bar at the wall, the small object putting a huge dent in it.

"Hey! Careful with how you handle things!" Arcuturs snapped. "You know how much work went into that? It's a delicate piece of equipment right now!"

"Relax brainy..." Rugal sneered. "I ain't going to touch it I swear."

"I leave the two of you for just five minutes and the barking happens." Sting said as she came in with a huge tray of hamburgers. "Seriously, I'm surprised you guys haven't killed each other yet."

"Heh, geek there has lost a spanner." Rugal said as he reached for a hamburger. Sting walked over to Arcturus, who appeared to be making final adjustments to something.

"Any complications?" She asked.

"None." He said, the hiss escaping from his mask. The red lens over his right eye shifted as he examined his work. "The device is good and ready. All we need to do is feed this little baby into its brain. If this next testing works, I'll be good to go."

He stood up, holding a small box in his hands. Moving over to the huge device, he slid under the power core section, hooking the box to the bottom. "What the-? How'd my spanner get here?"

"Dolt..." Rugal said as he ate another burger.

Creaks sounded as Arcturus fitted the box in. The girls watched as he removed himself from the device, walking over to a strange suit that had three mechanical arms attached to it. Arcturus hauled himself in, strapping it over himself and then turning it on. The suit powered up, and the arms moved, their fingers flexing.

"Control is completely routed to my aperture." He said. "No one is taking it away so easily form us." He explained as he pressed some buttons. "Here we go..."

With a click of a button, the Bullhead engines lit up, expelling a plume of fire. The three of them stared. Had Arcturus somehow configured them to be flamethrowers? The saw on the other side hummed and sprang to life. Whatever they were working on, it seemed to be close to completion.

"There we are!" Arcturus said with glee.

As they watched, Ruby suddenly felt her scroll buzz. Taking it out, she saw Weiss had already completed her job. "Guys, Weiss says they stole a wireless electronic communicator interface. It was a prototype to be used on certain bots to be able to coordinate other androids. Basically, it could allow them to talk with each other, make them more efficient."

"So that's probably what masked freak is doing now..." Yang said.

"But for what?" Blake wondered. "Some sort of war robot?"

"Anyways..." The girls turned as Sting continued. "You sure the interface is set for him? I don't want to put this on him and have him not do anything." They stared at each other. Who, or what was him?

"Relax. Once I improve the interface, it'll overtake him completely. He'll be nothing but a mindless bot then." Arcturus replied.

"Not to mention he's currently about as alive as a rock." Rugal said.

"Just get on it." Sting said, turning to leave. Suddenly, as if she sensed something, she looked up.

"And while you two are at it..." She said, drawing her War hammer. "Take out the trash." She twirled the weapon, firing a single round. It blew apart the walkway supports, sending parts of it crashing to the ground. Ruby cried out as she felt the whole thing give way under her.

Drawing Crescent Rose, she fired a few rounds, slowing her descent. She turned to see Blake reach for her, hooking Gambol Shroud along the section of the still suspended walkway. She grabbed the Faunus's hands. The two of them swung for a bit before landing on the floor. Beside them, Yang had managed to land safely as well.

"Hmm..." Rugal sighed as he eyed the three of them. "Not really good for entertainment."

"Just don't break anything..." Arcturus said. "I am not interested in going back to square zero at the expense of your 'fun'."

Rugal punched his fists together, grinning all the while. "Don't worry. I'll be really careful."

"Oh boy..." Ruby gulped as he advanced, picking up some metal gauntlets on the way and strapping them on. Ruby held her scythe at bay, wondering if she could even make a scratch on him with what she had.

Yang punched her fists together as well, her body catching aflame and her eyes changed color. "You want to get rough big guy? Bring it!" Charging straight at Rugal, she threw every ounce of force she had at his chest. Yang suddenly cringed. She looked up at his uninterested expression. It felt like she had just smashed her bare fist on rock!

Rugal frowned. "For all that talk, you don't seem to know what a punch is. Maybe I'll teach you..." With that, he swung. Yang deftly dodged, his fist grazing her shoulder. Still, the small strike had left a burning pain in Yang's arm. She cried out as she was thrown a few meters away.

"Yang!" Ruby ran over to her sister, who now held her shoulder and was paralyzed by pain on the floor.

"I-I think it's dislocated..." Yang squinted against the pain. "Damn it... Is that guy a monster?"

Blake fired a few rounds at Rugal, who merely brushed them aside. "What's wrong?" He yelled ecstatically. "I'm not even trying here!"

Blake flipped backwards as he closed in on her and threw a punch at the ground, the force of it smashing apart the stone and creating a crater.

"This is bad..." Blake said. If he took out Yang in a single strike, she didn't stand a chance.

"You guys are way too weak for my liking." Rugal frowned. "Sometimes, I really wonder if it was a blessing or a curse my Aura got screwed with. It makes my body something akin to steel or titanium. Can't really tell. But enough chatter. Time to end this..."

As he moved in, something caught his eye from above. A small shape descended, landing a blow on him. Rugal grunted as the attack pushed him back a few feet.

"Nicole!" Blake stared as the chipmunk Faunus twirled her tonfas around.

"You guys did great." She said as she got into her stance. "Now get out of her."

"Got it." Blake nodded. Moving over to Yang, she helped Ruby lift the injured girl to her feet.

"We have to move." Blake said just as the door opened and Sting walked in.

"My my..." She mused as she drew her hammer. "Quite a large number of guests hmm? What makes you think you are leaving alive?"

Arcturus seemed to have placed his work on hold, moving over to the small bunch. His aperture's arms now held spears and in his hand was a small blowtorch device that emitted the glow of Dust.

"Vale police?" Arcturus wondered, his human eye squinting it what would be best described as a frown. "A Faunus among them? Interesting. Their weapons will make a good addition to the collection. The things I could do..."

Ruby drew her scythe again. "What do we do?" She said to Nicole.

"We have to run." Nicole said. "Truth be told, I don't think I even scratched Rugal there. And based on what I'm seeing, Arcturus has got some sort of makeshift flamethrower powered by Dust. I have a plan, but it'll need a really big opening."

"You guys seem to be enjoying your little talks." Rugal smiled. "If you're not going go first, then I'll help myself." Instantly, he dashed in. Ruby and Nicole dodged just as he threw out his fist, his hand catching nothing but air.

Ruby raised her scythe to block Sting's strike. She grunted as Sting pressed downward. With all her might, she twisted, bringing Sting's hammer to one side while pivoting off it and throwing a kick at the woman. Sting ducked, raising her hammer again to strike back. Ruby rolled, the hammer slamming into the ground. Although Sting didn't seem to want to use the powerful cannon built into the weapon, it probably wouldn't be long before she cornered her.

Behind, Blake fought with Arcuturus. Although her attacks were fast, Arcturus blocked every single one, his spears twisting and deflecting the blows. "Please." He groaned. "At least make this interesting..."

Blake jumped upwards as he pulled out his makeshift weapon, spraying out red Dust into the small flame at the tip, creating something akin to a flamethrower. Blake fired Gambol Shroud at the weapon, knocking it away. The minute her feet touched the floor, she somersaulted, her leg kicking into Arcturus's face. He faltered, but not before one of his suit's arms reached out and grabbed Blake in mid-flip. She aimed her weapon at him, but the other arms moved, pinning her arms and immobilizing her immediately.

Nicole battled with Rugal, who merely seemed to enjoy the trade of blows. After a few lightning fast strikes, she jumped up, twisting her tonfas under her arms as she fired machine gun rounds at the man. However, he didn't seem to feel any of it. Instead, he aimed his own gauntlets at her, ready to fire.

"Time to die, you little..." Before he could pull the trigger, he suddenly doubled over, clutching his chest. Nicole now saw her chance. She reached for her belt, pulling out a small grenade.

"Cover your eyes!" She said before throwing it. Ruby barely had time to do so before the detonator exploded, engulfing the room in a blinding light. Chimera shrank away, shielding their eyes from the glare.

"Damn!" Arcturus yelled over the commotion. "Where are they?" Something then collided into him, sending him sprawling across the floor.

"C'mon! Let's move!" Nicole said.

"You're not getting away!" Rugal growled. "I'm not done yet!" He struggled to move before he collapsed to his knees.

Finally their eyes adjusted. Sting looked around to find that the four intruders had gone. She walked over to Arcturus who now just recovered.

"Get him his shot." She said, gesturing to the quivering Rugal. "And then pack up. We have work to do..."


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

"AAAAGH!" Yang cried out as Nicole slid her arm back in. "God..."

"Sorry Yang." Nicole frowned. "But I don't think you'll be in any shape for other assignments for a while.

"Chill out." Yang grumbled. "I can still kick butt!" She stood up, flexing her right arm. Instantly, she doubled over in pain.

"Yang, I don't think you should be ignoring Nicole." Blake said. "You can barely move your arm now. It'll probably need a sling."

"Dammit..." Yang cursed. "I can't believe I screwed up..."

"Don't blame yourself Yang." Ruby said in an attempt to calm her down. "No one could've known how strong Rugal was."

"That guy..." Yang gasped as Nicole prepared a cast for her arm. "What was he? It felt like I was punching steel!"

"It must be his Aura." Blake said. "He said it was always active permanently though. Wonder why?"

"Maybe an accident?" Weiss suggested. "I know nothing of it, but that may be a possibility."

"Whatever it is, that seems to be his biggest weakness." Wesley noted. "Aura isn't something to be spammed out every second. Possibly, that's what happened back then. His body can't keep up the strain for long and will start tiring out. Though the fact he is even able to fight for such hours is still insane."

"Not to mention Sting's pretty tough..." Ruby said. "And pretty smart. She realized we were there instantly."

Wesley nodded. "Anyways, tell me what you guys saw there. I'd like to know so we can plan our next move."

"They were constructing some kind of, I guess the proper word is attachment?" Ruby reported, doing her best to remember every detail. "They managed to configure the Bullhead engines into flamethrowers and also used the wireless interface communicator for controlling the whole thing. But the real kick was they wanted to attach it onto something. Not sure what though, but it has to be big."

"Did they mention how they were going to do it?" Wesley asked, desperate for more.

"Arcturus did mention he still needed to modify the interface." Blake said. "Whatever they want to attach it to is already dead. Still Arcturus wanted to use it and make it work. How?"

Wesley thought for a bit, looking through the reports on Arcturus. "The man is a master mechanic and engineer. But even more so when it comes to nano-technology. Maybe he is trying to infuse whatever his specimen is with nano-wires?"

He stood up, pacing around as he thought. "It may just be possible that he wants to use nano-wires to completely override his subject's brain? It is likely that by controlling the nerves with electrical signals, he can establish some sort of zombie cyborg..."

"Is that even realistically achievable?" Weiss frowned, still quite skeptical about it.

"This is Chimera we are talking about." Nicole said as she secured Yang's arm in a sling. "Anything can be expected from them."

"And if they let something like that out on the streets, it'll be a disaster." Blake said. "We have to stop them."

"Well, we'll need luck with that." Wesley said. "When I sent Keith and a bunch of cops over, the whole place was empty save for the scraps they didn't need. But we found something worth noting. At the very bottom of the whole complex was what they could only describe as a freezer. A really big one too."

"Most likely to cryogenically store their 'specimen'." Weiss inferred. "But what would they be storing that needs that much space?"

Wesley shook his head. "No clue. Honestly, I didn't expect them to bolt so fast. Now we really are at a loss on what to do."

The whole group remained silent at their newest predicament. Now that Chimera had shifted their base, it wasn't easy to get back on their trail. Additionally, they now know anyone on the law enforcement agencies would be hunting for them, meaning they would take more discreet measures. Unless they were found, it won't be long before their small package of chaos makes its way onto the Black Market.

"Well, maybe there is another way..." Ruby frowned as a new idea entered her mind. "Seems like Arcturus likes it when his toys start working. He'll probably like it a lot more if they worked even better than before."

Weiss turned to her. "What do you mean?"

"Here's an example." Ruby explained. "I pretty much was a dork when I built Crescent Rose."

"Wait, you forged that scythe?" Wesley blinked. "Color me impressed. That's not something you see every day."

Ruby nodded. "Yeah. But my Uncle Qrow said that no matter how much thought I put into it, if it didn't work for me, it was good as useless. I may have gone a little over the top with the design, but it worked well enough, and when it finally got together, I made sure to improve it so as to get the best from its performance. I'm pretty sure Arcturus thinks this way too."

"So in other words, he can't resist it if someone offered a bit of tech that would tremendously improve the design he currently has." Blake said.

"And that'll be our bait for them." Nicole grinned.

Ruby nodded once more. "We just need to figure out what it is they would love to have. We display it, fireworks and all, they come in and we get them."

"Hook, line and sinker." Yang grinned.

"Don't be too hasty now." Wesley said. "If we did something like that, the public would get caught up in the whole mess. I will not have civilian casualties on my case, got it?"

"Which is why we'll have a disturbance." Ruby said. "Something really loud that'll force an evacuation. As for what it is, leave it to me."

"The Arena is the best place." Weiss said. "Once we evacuate any civilians, all that'll be left is us and Chimera."

"They know we have the police, but they don't know we're working with you." Blake said to Wesley. "They may not expect your presence, which makes this trap a lot easier."

"I say we go for it Wesley." Nicole nodded in agreement. "Though, what kind of tech should we get?"

Wesley gave a sly grin. "Leave that to me and Ms. Schnee. But you guys better get some sleep and prepare yourselves. I still don't expect this to go down smoothly."

* * *

"Hey, did you hear about that new processor being developed by Dragoon industries?"

"Yeah. I hear they want to use it as a platform to integrate more sophistication into robots."

"What's so different from the rest of what other companies are doing?"

"I hear this one will also give the focus on A.I. situational awareness and flexibility. I hear it's to vastly improve the ability to calculate moves, maybe even predict them! It's worth checking out!"

Sting couldn't help but overhear the conversation that had become the hot topic the last few days. She knew that the current weapon they currently had worked well enough. But she herself wondered if it could be more?

Walking to their new hideout, she entered the hidden door built into a wall, climbing down a ladder and into the main workshop. "Arcturus, what do you think?"

He turned from his workbench, studying the newspaper. "Hmm. Improve situational awareness and flexibility. The A.I. configurations will be tough, but I should be able to handle it with time. Besides, it'll make him an even better weapon. I think I can see the bucks rolling in."

"Glad we're on the same page." Sting nodded, her face expressionless. "Wake up Rugal."


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

"Full house." Wesley noted. "I can't believe we got this many in..."

Weiss looked out from the stands. True enough, the promotion posters had worked well. It took a few days for her and Wesley to plan what sort of machinery to show off. With a bit of coordination from James, their cover story went well. A super enhanced A.I. processor system that could equip drones with situational analysis that could verge on precognition.

Of course, such a design was still not feasible given the current technology on the market, but then again, geniuses have popped up here and there as an when they wanted to.

"I just hope they take the bait." She said, looking at him. "So what is your role again?"

"Well, the great Weiss Schnee simply has to take a look at the new prototype being developed, as ordered by her father who is just too busy to do so himself. And I am just a humble bodyguard whose mission is to protect the representative of the Schnee Dust Company."

Weiss nodded. If anything, the whole scenario was sound save for the fact her father had no clue on this prototype and that Wesley was merely a Faunus, disguised as a human with the cover of a well placed cap on his head.

"How will we know if Chimera busts the party?" Weiss frowned. "For all we know, they could just wait till it gets stored and then sent to a secure place where stealing it is so much easier."

"Perhaps. But they need to see for themselves first if the stuff actually works." Wesley said. "They already have every law enforcement agent in Vale looking for them. In their minds, it'd be a total waste trying to steal something that doesn't even work. And the story on this is that this is the first preliminary public testing, based on the grounds that Dragoon industries put loads of money into this and wants a spectacle."

Weiss stroked her chin. "A sound reasoning, but will it work?"

Wesley merely shrugged. "Who knows. But while we're at it... Why don't we talk about other things for a change?" Suddenly, Weiss felt him close in on her, smiling slyly all the way. "You know, if you start getting thirsty, I could buy you a drink. My tab. Just let me know princess, and I will happily comply."

"Alright..." Weiss said. "How about you get me a 'shut-up' soda and popcorn topped with 'get away from me or you'll face lawsuit'.

"Aww come on Weiss..." Wesley smiled. "I'm only like, what, twenty-six? That's not a big age gap."

"I swear to you..." Weiss said as James Hamilton took his place at the centre of Vale Arena. Grabbing a mike, he began to speak, catching Wesley's attention. Weiss breathed a sigh of relief as for the moment, Wesley was occupied with something else.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" He said. "Good day to you all! I am James Hamilton, CEO of Dragoon industries! As you know, androids are amongst the most reliable source of security there is due to their impressive combat prowess and intelligence. But they lack one thing! A sense, a way to be able to predict things based on observations like humans themselves are capable of doing! However, we at Dragoon industries have just recently developed a powerful processor capable of doing just that!"

At this, two large crates were wheeled in, opening to unveil two normal AK-130 Androids.

"Now, I understand the speculation in all of you, but fear not! For through this live performance testing, you can see just how much improvement there is!" The Androids now stepped out of the crates, setting themselves in standby.

Weiss yawned, genuinely bored from the exchange. She reckoned that if anything, it made her look natural. Turning to her left, she suddenly noticed something. At the very front row was a woman in a waist length chinese dress with a huge War hammer slung over her back. She matched Ruby's description of the woman named Sting completely.

"Sting is here." Weiss whispered to Wesley. "Seems your hunch was right."

"If it is just her, then we hit the jackpot." Wesley smiled. "It definitely means they are interested. Let's hope they buy the show."

"Now, on my left is a regular old Android." James explained. "On my right is one with the prototype A.I. installed. These two shall now spar together. Who will win? Let's find out!" The minute he cleared the arena, the androids powered up and went against each other. For a while, they sparred with each other with close range combat.

Everyone seemed to be getting bored with the bots after a few minutes though. The androids weren't exactly fighting in a dramatic way. Weiss turned to Wesley, who merely yawned. She now got worried that they hadn't done this part properly. Just as people were about to leave, the prototype android gave a flip backwards, kicking at the regular one. As it recovered, the prototype rushed in and delivered a lightning-fast punch.

Suddenly, the crowd started getting animated. The regular drone charged while the prototype held its ground. The regular droid then jumped, but it now was vulnerable to a shower of bullets from its opponent, which disrupted it's momentum and caused it to crash on the floor.

The prototype now rushed in, its blades unsheathed. The downed robot reared up, pulling out its gun. However, the prototype seemed to sense such a move as it veered to its right just as the bullet was fired. With a swing, it decapitated the other drone.

The crowd was stunned at such a feet. All in all, the prototype seemed to predict its opponent's moves, albeit in a very pathetic manner. Weiss looked out of the corner of her eye as Sting now took out some sort of scroll and started typing.

"Wesley, I think we're about to get party crashers." She said.

"So it seems." Wesley nodded. "Ms. Schnee, I would like you to please accompany me to a more secure place."

As the two got up, James had already returned to the display. "As you can see, there is still a lot of fine tuning to do. But I assure you, Dragoon industries will not disappoint!"

The minute Weiss and Wesley had reached the stairs leading to the entrance, a voice sounded out. "Don't worry about your pretty toy. We'll handle it for you."

Sting had appeared to make her move. Weiss now took out her scroll. _Ruby? That's your cue._

* * *

From her seat, Sting stood up, walking to the edge of the arena. "Don't worry about your pretty toy." She said, taking out the hammer. "We'll handle it for you."

Everyone turned to her direction. James himself watched as she lifted the hammer and blasted a single round into the sky. The onlookers screamed and ducked down, afraid of what the woman was about to do.

"What do you want?" James stammered into the mike.

"You've got something nice there." Sting commented. "And when Chimera sees something nice, we take it."

A commotion was heard from one of the entrances into the battlefield. Everyone stared as the door was blown out and Rugal stalked out, followed closely by Arcturus.

"My oh my." The masked man said as he approached the Android, who had now reverted to standby. "I have my work cut out for me, but I suppose the extra thousand Lien would be worth it."

"What took you two so long?" Sting asked from above.

"Ran into a couple of robot guards." Rugal said as he cracked his knuckles together. "I rolled the walking piles of scrap up so they'd be easier to dispose of. Though someone should think about how to fix that room..."

Arcturus had shoved the CEO aside, toiling over the modified android. "Hehehe... Now let's see what you've got in you..."

"Hurry up geek." Rugal growled. "I'm not so interested in activating plan B."

"Relax big guy." Arcturus smiled. "Plan B doesn't involve you." He noted as he pried open the robot's head, looking around it. In an instant, he frowned. "Hold up. There isn't a processor in here. It's just..." He didn't finish before a loud explosion ripped through the air.

People now started screaming, running away and pushing their way toward the exits. Sting, Rugal and Arcturus now looked at one another. Was that plan B?

Before they could react, a shape dropped down from above, smacking Arcturus away and into Rugal. The masked man remembered a very bushy tail just as his vision spun.

"Hey there!" Nicole grinned. "Miss me?"

Rugal pushed the masked man aside, grinning as he laid eyes on the Faunus. "Ah... I wondered how long it'd be before I could have another match. Don't worry little girl, I won't cut it short this time, so we can have all the time to ourselves."

"Sorry big man." Nicole said as she got into her fighting stance. "But the Rattler's have a different target in mind." She said as she ripped out a hail of gunfire from her tonfas while leaping away.

Sting flipped her hammer, aiming at the Faunus. However, she saw movement from the corner of her eye. Instantly, she ducked just as a scythe blade rushed past her head. Spinning around, she turned to see Ruby and Blake facing her on the now empty seats of the arena. Then Weiss flew up from outside the arena, landing next to the two of them.

"A trap eh?" Sting frowned. "I haven't been outwitted in a while, but you three kids and one Faunus? You seem quite shorthanded. What makes you think you think you can stop us? Need another lesson from Rugal?"

"Yeah, well..." Ruby grinned. "We have that covered..."

From the entrance that Rugal and Arcturus had emerged from, Wesley now entered. His old disguise was gone. Now he stood facing the two men with a very large and broad zweihander as tall as himself. The rectangular blade hummed with the fain glow of Dust.

"Rugal and Arcturus of Chimera, I hereby place you under arrest for thievery, possesion of illegal arms, illegal weapons manufacturing and for looking that ugly..." Wesley said with a snide grin. "Sting on the other hand, wow, she is a hottie. I suppose I'll slip the ugly charge for her. Man, I'd love to touch that bosom..."

Rugal blinked. "Wesley Snide?"

"Wait, wait..." Arcuturs snapped his head to the burly man. "You mean the Hunting Wolf of Beacon? Seriously? Hold up, this isn't part of my pay grade!"

Wesley spun his weapon around, stabbing it into the ground. It must have weighed tons, but he held it like it was only a few kilos. "What? You guys gonna entertain me? I should warn you though, the entertainment I'm looking for can get rough..."


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

The plan had worked beautifully. The minute Chimera had showed up, Weiss had cued Ruby to set off the distraction, which was a very volatile box of Dust powder. The blast had managed to scare off the public, removing them from the immediate danger of the three heinous criminals. It had also surprised the trio, which allowed them to close in and bring the fight to them. As for the droid display, nothing but a recorded fight sequence with the help of Ren and Pyrrha.

"You duped me!" Arcturus yelled with anger. "I dragged my ass here for nothing but scrap?"

"Heh..." Wesley sniggered. "Maybe you're not as smart as you thought." He charged in, swing his weapon at the man. Arcturus raised his robotic arms to block, but the sheer force of Wesley's attack flung him right into the wall of the arena. He fell back to the ground, unconscious as the arms broke apart.

"Outta the way pipsqueak!" Rugal roared as he charged at Wesley. Wesley redirected his attack, but Rugal blocked it with his own arm.

"Damn, what the hell do you eat every day?" Wesley grunted as he faced the other man. "Normally, I'd have broken you arm with Brüllen by now..."

"I'm a lot tougher than I look little man..." Rugal sneered. "It'll take more than a few hits to bring me down. At this, he reared up for another punch. Wesley kicked his legs out from under him, his superior strength felling Rugal despite his aura. Still, Wesley rubbed his toe, still aching from the contact with Rugal's tough skin.

"Ow... Geez..." He moaned. "These shoes cost a bundle! I hope they're not damaged..."

Back in the seating gallery, team RWBY along with Nicole engaged Sting four on one. Sting flipped as Blake charged in, delivering dual blade strikes as she did. Sting was strong, so Blake focused on using her speed to keep Sting on the defensive. Ruby flipped above the two, firing a few rounds, forcing Sting into a corner. Nicole now charged in, readying a punch. However, Sting flipped away, the punch colliding with the wall.

"Not bad." The woman mused. "It's been a while since I had a real fight." She tilted the hammer to the floor, blasting a round that propelled her high into the air. Twirling it again, she fired another shot at Nicole. Thankfully, Weiss was able to move in and intercept with a glyph, though the shockwave and force of the round blew them both backwards.

"You guys okay?" Ruby asked as they recovered.

"I think so." Weiss said as she shook her head. Nicole stood up, snapping her head and feeling the tendons loosen.

"Man, this woman is good..." Nicole admitted. "I can't find a hole in her defense anywhere."

Ruby now wished Yang was here. Sadly, her injury form the other day hadn't recovered yet, meaning she had to sit out the fight. If they had her raw fighting power, they'd definitely blow a hole through Sting's defenses. She watched as Blake struck again, only to have Sting spin her hammer, deflecting all her attacks.

"That's it!" Ruby beamed. "Weiss, you still going good?"

"Yeah, why?" Weiss frowned.

Ruby grinned. "Well, here's what I think we can try."

* * *

Arcturus stirred, getting up. He watched as Rugal battled with Wesley. Rugal charged in, delivering a fist right at Wesley. He dodged instantly, Rugal's fist smashing through the wall of the arena. They rushed each other again, throwing strikes at one another while trying to dodge as many as possible.

Rugal and Wesley then leapt away from each other. Wesley now reached down for a small handle on the blade of Brüllen. Instantly, he pulled a hidden trigger and the blade fired out a massive round that could have blown out a small car. Rugal stared just as the round exploded at his feet, knocking him several metres back. He growled, unleashing a hail of machine gun fire from his gloves.

Wesley raised his weapon in defense, charging in once more and engaging Rugal at close range. Despite the strength of Rugal's aura, it was becoming clear that Wesley had the upper hand. He was stronger and faster, not to mention more cunning.

_A super-charged dust cannon built into the blade?_ Arcturus though as he studied the Wesley's weapon. _Brüllen, the roar of a wolf eh? Should take quite the recharge timing._

He reached for the control device on his hands. _That's it. No more games. Time you all got a taste of my latest toy..._

* * *

Blake now cried out as Sting kicked her in the gut, hitting her head on the floor and blacking out. Just as the woman raised the hammer, preparing to bring an end to their battle, Nicole charged in, deflecting the hammer with Rattler's blunt edges.

"You are really starting to annoy me chipmunk..." Sting growled, a frown now breaking her once refined features.

"Heh..." Nicole grinned. "Same here. You have no idea how much trouble you've caused me have you? My worthless, lecherous partner over there can't bear to fight a lady, no matter how twisted she is. So I have to end up picking up his slack."

"Must be tough to have such a stupid leader hm?" Sting replied.

"True. He is quite the annoyance." Nicole said as she pushed back against Sting. "But if there is anything I can respect him for, it's for taking his things seriously."

An explosion sounded from the arena. Nicole and Sting turned to see Wesley smash Rugal into a corner. Rugal stood up, preparing to charge in again. However, another of his seizures occurred. Before he could do anything, Wesley charged in, slamming the flat of Brüllen right into him. Rugal finally sank to the floor and didn't move.

"See?" Nicole smiled. "Now if only he was like that most of the time."

"What difference does it make?" Sting said. "If what you say is true, and he can't fight me, then all I have to do is beat you and get the two fools out of here."

"Doesn;t look like you are too worried about them." Nicole commented. "You're aren't even bothered that their asses are getting kicked."

"They're useful to an extent." Sting replied. "But as always, I constantly have to help them out of their scrapes myself when their convenience comes to a close. I swear, I'd kill them if they weren't so useful." She finally sighed. "Well, let's go. I can't waste time when I have to kill you."

Nicole gave her a frightening look. "Yeah, I'd love to see you try..." She taunted just as she pushed Sting away. Sting didn't bother to resist. Instead, she twirled her hammer and prepared to fire. That was when Nicole opened up a whole volley of rounds at her. Sting was now forced to resort to a defensive option.

"Blake! Get up quick!" Nicole said over the whine of her weapons.

"Huh?" Blake gasped as she regained consciousness. "Oww... What's going on?"

"No time!" Nicole said. Can you keep her busy?"

Blake nodded. "Leave it to me." At once, the Faunus leapt to her feet and charged full speed at Sting, who had just landed. Sting raised her hammer at Blake, but the raven-haired girl activated her Aura, creating a decoy shadow clone that served to distract Sting whil she leapt overhead, striking out with her weapon. Sting blocked the flurry of strikes effortlessly before managing to pin Blake once more.

Sting looked at Blake with disdain. "Fool girl. What makes you think you can actually best me? I tire of this nonsense."

"Well, maybe it can just buy someone a few seconds." Blake said as she pointed a finger at something to Sting's left before flipping away. Sting turned to see a large plume of fire converge on her position. Her eyes widened, leaping aside as the flame exploded off the place she stood a few seconds ago. Her hammer finally flew out of her hands from the sheer force of the blow and she flew in the air for a while before a flurry of rose petals obscured her view.

Weiss's glyph combination attack had now left Sting defensless, allowing for Ruby to charge in and give an axe kick right into Sting's gut, smashing her into the row of seats below.

Nicole now walked over to the woman, Blake and Weiss also converging on her location. "Is she conscious?" Weiss asked. As if to answer, Sting stirred, a painful groan escaping her lips.

Someone walked over, and everybody recognized the blonde mane of Ruby's sister. Yang knelt beside Sting and, with a swift button punch to the forehead, knocked her out cold. "Not anymore..." She said menacingly.

"Yang?" Weiss stared. "What?"

"Sorry." Nicole said sheepishly. "I told her she could come with me as long as she didn't get involved with fighting."

"Seriously?" Blake said as she glanced at her partner. "You're still injured."

"C'mon Blake." Ruby said. "You should know that Yang isn't one to take no for an answer."

"Yeah." Yang grinned. "Told you before didn't I? I ain't letting you guys hog all the fun."

"Hold on." Ruby said as she looked past Yang. "What is Arcturus doing?" Everyone turned to see the masked man now typing furiously at a device on his arm. At once the ground shook, before the arena exploded into bits and pieces of debris. Everyone looked, jaws going wide as the massive Death Stalker climbed out. The only difference was that this Grimm had Arcturus's machine strapped onto him.

"Wait a sec..." Yang blinked. "They wanted to attach that machine to a Grimm?"

"That explains the freezer in their old hidey hole." Nicole gulped.

"We shouldn't have a problem." Weiss said. "It's a shambling corpse right? All we need to do is..." She couldn't finish before the cybernetic zombie Grimm blasted a plume of fire at them, forcing them to run.

"Ain't so simple kid..." Arcturus gloated below as his pet rampaged around. "Nano-wires feed all the way through his body. Maybe he is dead, but my little probes won't let him rot. This is the culmination of all my work! Granted though, we'll need to use a live Grimm next time, but I suppose this initial test run ought to work eh?"

"Well, what now?" Blake asked as the Death Stalker sliced apart a section of the gallery with that oversized chainsaw.

"I'm thinking!" Ruby said. "If we get that harness off, we might be able to stop him!"

"How?" Weiss screamed over the clamor, the flames licking dangerously close on their heels. "Well be burned the minute we try to jump on him!"

Arcuturs laughed. "Hahahaha! You can't stop me! You are nothing but insects compared to my genius! I-" As he began, something swooped down above the Death Stalker and sliced off the arm equipping the flamethrowers. Arcturus merely stared as the weapon went dead.

His stare finally travelled to the face of Wesley Snide, who just stood there with a menacing look in his eyes.

"You..." He snarled, baring his teeth. "You tried to kill Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang and Nicole..."

Arcturus couldn't help shiver at the sight of him. "Um... Uh..."

"You despicable, loathsome pile of trash!" Wesley roared, swinging his blade down upon the Death Stalker. "I'm going to beat you and your pet up so bad not even a trace of you will be left! You son of a bitch, I'LL MURDER YOU!"

Wesley now plunged his weapon into the head of the Grimm. With the pull of a trigger, the head of the Grimm blew open along with Arcturus's device, reducing it into a pile of scrap metal drenched in Grimm blood.

The five ladies blinked as Wesley finally advanced on Arcturus, preparing to deliver one of the most brutal attacks as punishment for trying to harm five beautiful females on his watch.

"Um..." Ruby frowned in the wake of their sudden and completely strange rescue. "Is that supposed to be chivalry?"

Nicole leaned in. "Ruby, if anything, Wesley's version of chivalry is one not to be admired..."


	11. Epilogue

Epilogue:

Team RWBY watched as the police led Chimera away. Rugal was confined to a specially crafter cryogenic casket that would keep him on ice for as long as it was powered. Sting followed closely behind, her hands bound behind her with handcuffs. Perhaps the most drastic of all was Arcturus. Whatever Wesley did to him, it wasn't pretty. The cops had no choice but to call in an ambulance.

"What the hell..." Nicole said as she looked at him. "Don't you think you overreacted?"

"Serves him right for trying to hurt my ladies." Wesley growled.

Weiss took a step back. "I swear, if he tries to perform any form of seductive rite, I will throw him into one of those police vans."

"Don't worry Weiss." Ruby said in an attempt to calm her. "Nicole will probably help out there."

Firemen were currently struggling to put out the flames left in the wake of the battle. Apparently, the whole city had been startled ever since the Death Stalker had burst through the arena. The entire place was a shambles now, meaning the upcoming tournament had to wait.

"Ruby!" Came a voice. Ruby turned to see Jaune running up to her, followed closely by the rest of team JNPR. Incidentally, Velvet Scarlatina trailed behind.

"We heard about it all." Pyrrha said. "Is it true that those horrible criminals managed to control a Death Stalker?"

"More like forcibly revive it." Weiss explained. "It was quite a shock to me too."

"But man, you should have seen Wesley." Yang smiled. "He cut that thing apart in seconds! Man, he really is one of Beacon's strongest graduates."

"He must be quite an individual." Pyrrha followed, earning her a groan from Weiss.

"Is that him?" Ren asked, gesturing at the wolf Faunus wearing the black trench coat. His wolf ears now perked up. Turning around, he walked over to the small group of students.

"Well, this is quite the surprise." Wesley said. "Mind if I know you guys?"

Ruby moved forward, introducing everyone. "Wesley, this is Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren and Velvet Scarlatina. They're also students of Beacon, like us. Guys, this is Wesley Snide, the leader of team WNDR."

"I-It's an honor." Jaune stammered.

"Same here." Pyrrha replied, gazing with awe. "I never thought I'd meet one of Beacon's strongest."

"Hi!" Nora gave a wide toothy smile in greeting. Ren nodded curtly while Velvet merely waved a shy hand in greeting.

"Pleasure is all mine." Wesley smiled. "It's great to see young rising stars of Beacon getting along well together. Nothing makes me any happier than seeing people who have absolutely no relation with each other stand as one amidst adversity."

"Anyways," Wesley continued. "I want to thank you guys for your help. We never would have caught Chimera without your help. It's been too long these criminals were allowed to do as the pleased on the streets."

"Well, we wouldn't be alive if not for you Wesley." Ruby grinned. "It was absolutely awesome what you did."

"Thanks, but I'm not the greatest there is." Wesley smiled. "We all managed to catch them because we worked together despite our differences. Chimera was a tough outfit because they too worked together in the same way. But they lacked a certain something. Wanna know what it was?"

"What is it?" Blake asked, intrigued.

"Sting just picked up Arcturus and Rugal because she saw them as convenient people who worked to her advantage. That's just about the same as looking at an item or tool. But you guys..." Wesley winked. "You guys saw each other as teammates. And that's the kind of attitude that'll see you through your tough times. Ozpin told me that once, it's a really good piece of advice mind you."

"And we'll hang onto it." Ruby grinned, giving a thumbs-up.

"That's the spirit." Wesley nodded. "Anyways, once I've handed these felons over, I'll be leaving. What I'm trying to say is, this is goodbye."

"What?" Yang said with surprise. "But why not just settle down?"

"I ain't the type for settling." Wesley said. "Besides, when I went to Beacon, it was to help as many people as I could. So I thought, why not the whole world? I mean, I can't exactly be everywhere at once, but when trouble calls, I just have to go, don't I?"

"It's a shame." Pyrrha said sadly. "I really wanted to spar with you just once."

"Well, heck. Maybe I could teach you guys a thing or two." Wesley smiled. "It'd be good showing the new bunch some of the tricks I learned. Maybe Nicole can help too. Besides, Brüllen's starting to collect dust. Might as well huh?"

"Really?" Pyrrha said with a gleam in her eyes. "That'll be great! Jaune could also learn tons from you!"

"Of course! Anyone's welcome. But before that..." Wesley now leaned in, eyeing the seven ladies in front of him. "Why not we hang out for a bit first? I know one great place where they sell the finest wine. Of course, Ruby can just get the usual juice. Gotta respect age and all, right?"

"Huh?" Pyrrha blinked. Wesley merely moved in, studying Pyrrha, Nora and Velvet.

"I never knew team RWBY had such wonderful friends." He said. "How about we have a private chat after my little showcase? I'd love to talk with the Mistral regional champion and her lovely friend here. At this, he gestured to Nora, who now looked at him weirdly.

"Plus, it's been awhile since I saw a beautful rabbit Faunus." He said, eyeing Velvet. "So whadya say baby? Wanna hang out? It can be a threesome if it makes you comfortable."

Velvet's face suddenly flushed red. "U-um... Well...I...Uh..." She stared as the words came out incoherently.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAI YA!" Nicole yelled as she charged at him, her fist smashing into the back of his head.

"ARRRRGH!" Wesley cried out as Nicole's punch blew his face into the paved floor below. Pyrrha, Nora and Velvet jumped back in shock and surprise at her sudden attack.

"I leave you alone for five minutes and this happens." Nicole growled. "Team RWBY, do me a favour and teach every girl at Beacon how to deal with men like this, okay?"

"Sure." Weiss nodded, venom lacing her voice. She'd had enough of the womaniser for her entire lifetime.

"Ugh... Agh..." Wesley groaned, his hand rising off the floor shakily. "C-come on... Think... about... my wellbeing... for a change..."

"Come on guys." Nicole said to everyone of the Beacon students. "Let's go. I know this wonderful cafe that sells the best Parfaits. My treat!" At this, she walked past them, stepping on Wesley in the process.

"AGH!" He cried out as Nicole's heel stomped on his skull.

Nicole turned around, frowning. "Did I just step on something?"

"Bye Wesley!" Ruby said. "See you later at Beacon!"

At once, the students walked away, leaving Wesley on his own in the middle of the street.

Wesley sighed as he got up, brushing the dirt off his face. "Ah... Why do they always need to be so difficult. Well, guess I'd better get back to my job..."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Whew, finally done. I admit I did have a little bit of fun writing this, and not just because my OC was pretty much a lecherous perv.**

**If there are a few things I must confess though, this is the first one I did where our beautiful RWBY ladies went up against some other team of villains, so all the while I wondered if the battle scenes got too elaborated or not elaborated at all. Seems I'll need to wait for what people think. The next is that the Death Stalker part was rather anticlimatic. Still, I hope everyone enjoyed the characters of Wesley Snides and Nicole Tamias. They were just ideas that walked into my head suddenly and I had to pen them down.**

**Anyways, hope you enjoy this story! RWBY volume 2 air online officially on 24th July! Hopefully the RTX vid comes up soon and I get to watch the panel itself. See ya next time!**


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